[Updated May 30, 2022]: Film Works Alfresco is back for the Summer of 2022! The free movie screenings will take place at The Hudson, a waterfront restaurant located at Dyckman Marina. See the 2022 Film Works Alfresco schedule.
Every year New Yorkers engage in an important rite of summer. We dig out lawn chairs and blankets from small, overstuffed closets and—snack-filled totes and coolers in hand—we stream into various city parks at dusk to watch movies under the stars.
For the third year in a row, Inwood Hill Park in Upper Manhattan can count itself among those parks offering free summer films. This is thanks to Film Works Alfresco, a cinema series started by Aaron Simms. Aaron is also the founder of Inwood Art Works, which is a nonprofit organization aimed at creating a space for performing and visual arts in Upper Manhattan.
Several things set Film Works Alfresco apart from other film series. Inwood residents don’t have to take the subway to get there, for one miraculous thing. (As Manhattan’s northernmost neighborhood, we usually have to travel downtown for arts and entertainment). For another, it is the one and only English & Spanish summer movie program in all of New York City. It’s also much less crowded than many other outdoor summer films in the city. Locals love the event but so far it has remained off the beaten path.
Film Works Alfresco has given us yet another reason why Inwood is such a wonderful outdoor destination in New York City.
We met up with Aaron for an early morning coffee the week before the film series kicked off, and he pulled up a photo on his phone to show us what he’s most excited for this year.
“It’s glorious, absolutely glorious,” he says, of the brand new, inflatable movie screen that’s twice as big as the screen from last year. He has also invested in a new projector and describes how—other than the van he and his team rent to transport the equipment—they’ve created a completely mobile film unit.
“We can set up on the moon if you get us there,” he jokes. Though in all seriousness, he’s proud to be putting money back into the program. This puts him in a better position to pursue the overarching theme of Film Works Alfresco, which is to curate “culturally relevant films for our neighborhood.”
Inwood is a microcosm of New York City’s diversity, so the definition of “cultural relevancy” is broad. That leads to a film selection that’s eclectic enough to appeal to the neighborhood.
El Libro de la Vida (The Book of Life) (now postponed to Aug. 19) tells the story of a young man struggling to live up to his family’s expectations. Las Misma Luna (Under The Same Moon) (June 24) is about the border and immigration, “What’s relevant to Inwood is also relevant to the world right now,” Aaron says about the movie line-up.
Scheduled for August is A League of Their Own, a story about an all-female baseball league during World War II. Not only will a new generation of baseball fans be introduced to the 1992 film, it also honors the wave of strong women rising up in our culture now.
The bilingual nature of the film series reflects Inwood’s large Dominican community. All movies are shown either in English with Spanish subtitles or vice versa.
This summer, Film Works Alfresco kicked off on June 3rd and Matt and I were there. This year’s inaugural movie was 42nd Street, a classic film about putting on a large-scale musical.
“We have an incredible Broadway community and dancing community up here,” Aaron says, referring to the many uptown residents that work in the performing arts. “Not to mention the large senior community,” who may enjoy seeing a film that takes place during the Jazz Age and contains dance numbers choreographed by the great Busby Berkeley.
Selecting Mondays as the regular viewing night is no random act. Traditionally in theater, dance, and opera, artists are off on Mondays. And people who don’t work in the arts often spend summer weekends out of town and want to stay closer to home at the start of the week.
When Matt and I arrive for 42nd Street, blankets and lawn chairs are already scattered around the freshly mown lawn at Gaelic Field. Picnics are being laid out on blankets. Early evening activities surround us: dog walking, soccer playing, even jet-skiing along the river beside us.
The Film Works Alfresco team, including an operations manager, a tech director, and four interns (all paid, Aaron had pointed out earlier) are hard at work and the new screen is fully inflated.
Aaron mingles, greeting people by name, and the live pre-movie entertainment–the Don Slatoff Jazz Trio–is deep into their set.
Live performances and classes that are intercurated with the movie themes is also a new feature this year. All of the performers and instructors are local to the neighborhood.
Before A League of Their Own, Hanuman Health Club will do a free body weight class, followed by music from Double Entrendre Music Ensemble. WonderSpark Puppets will perform a puppet show before the June 17 viewing of the Mister Roger’s documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Judging by the crowd turnout and the laughs throughout 42nd Street, Film Works Alfresco is off to a strong start.
In all of our years of living in Inwood, Matt and I have gone to several outdoor movies. We’ve always enjoyed ourselves but the dread of a long subway ride home can put a damper on the fun.
Walking to a movie in our neighborhood park was a small thrill. This is the feeling that Aaron was hoping to bring to the community, but he’s expecting ripple effects, too.
“When residents leave Inwood in search of entertainment, money is also going out of the neighborhood.”
“We keep money in the neighborhood. People are going to come here and buy a sandwich from the deli. They’re going to leave after the movie and get a drink or something to eat at Seawalk,” he says, referring to one of the many restaurants on Dyckman Street in Inwood.
“All the local businesses do better by having an arts scene.”
Aaron’s idea of “local businesses” extends downtown to Morris-Jumel Mansion in Washington Heights, where a spinoff of Film Works Alfresco is scheduled. Movies will be shown on the lawn of Manhattan’s oldest residence on select Fridays. The theme is New York City musical movies through the decades: Annie for the eighties, Newsies for the nineties, Dreamgirls for the aughts and The Greatest Showman for the teens.
Film Works Alfresco is an important addition to the list of free things to do in Upper Manhattan. Aaron raises money in various ways and he’s thankful for grants from the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, the Neighborhood 360° Program, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and NYC & Company.
“Not to mention a whole bunch of great individuals throwing out anywhere from $1 to $1,000,” adding, “we can only do this if people want it to happen.”
Aaron would also like to see the root issue—the fact that there are no movie theaters in the area—addressed.
“There’s no access,” he says, pointing out that the nearest movie theater is in Harlem. “I say, build me a theater.”
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That shortage of theaters in the area is also what led him to create another cinema event, the Inwood Film Festival. This past March was the fourth annual festival, and is where we first met Aaron when Matt’s short film was selected.
As for the unpredictable weather that defines a New York City summer, two rain dates are built in to Film Works Alfresco. Aaron promises to do his best to be in Inwood Hill Park every Monday but says he would never put the audience in harm’s way. If it storms during the day, he may cancel around 4:00 p.m. because no one wants to sit in the wet grass—although the audience may disagree.
If the rain is scheduled to stop at 7:00 p.m., he’ll get phone calls and emails asking where he is.
“We have an adamant following that will bring umbrellas and track their weather apps.”
Back in March, a large audience was gathered inside Columbia University’s Campbell Sports Center at 218th Street and Broadway for the Inwood Film Festival. Before the viewing, Aaron said a few words and then asked how many people had walked there. Almost everyone raised their hands.
“Anyone from Brooklyn?”
In response to the one or two hands that went up he joked, “Now you know how we feel.”
“For once,” he tells Matt and I, “we make a destination. We become the destination.”
- Looking to add a meal to your summer film experience? Check out my recommendations for Inwood restaurants.